Together Again
by Charming Gilmore Girl
Summary: After the Final Battle, how Remus, Tonks and Fred discover they're dead and Fred discovers his heros are the Marauders. Slight angst and Deathly Hallows spoilers.


Together Again

By CharmingGilmoreGirl

I don't own. Spoilers for Book 7, FTR.

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Remus John Lupin was confused.

One moment he was dueling a Death Eater and watching Dora's back; the next he was clear on the other side of the lake.

Only problem- the grounds were completely deserted.

It wasn't eerie, though, he reflected. Peaceful. Quiet.

Wait; scratch that, Remus thought as he heard the sound of running feet.

A tall, dark-haired man burst out of the cover of the forest, running towards the castle, though the whole time his gaze stayed on the red headed woman chasing him. Behind her came a second man who looked much like the first, strolling alone and laughing at the first man's plight.

Remus blinked.

Where had the battle gone? What was happening? Why was Sirius laughing as Lily chased James?

The last answer came automatically to the werewolf.

"Because James ticked Lily off and Sirius thought it funny."

Remus froze, the meaning behind the words sinking in.

"I'm dead?" Was all he could stammer.

Lily, James, and Sirius froze, looking at Remus in shock. When Remus saw that Sirius was looking past his friend, Remus realized there was someone behind him, muttering angrily.

An icy cold wave of fear washed over him as he realized what had happened.

When James and Lily had gone into hiding, they, Sirius, and Remus, (Peter had gone to visit him mother. Thinking back on it now, Remus supposed he was probably with Voldemort) had come up with several spells that would keep the four (and Sirius and Remus' wives, were they ever to marry) held back so that they could all move on together. Only those four (to six) souls would be here.

Which was why it was no shock to Remus to hear Sirius exclaim, "Tonks! What are you doing here?"

The young witch, walking over to her cousin, said, "No idea. Don't suppose any of you know?"

"Teddy." Remus said hoarsely.

Dora swung around to face her husband, realizing for the first time that he was there.

"What'll happen to Teddy?" Her voice was worried. Remus breathed out.

"Nothing. He should… he should be fine. Your Mum'll take care of him."

"And if she can't?"

"He has a good and loving godfather who we know would go to the ends of the Earth and beyond for him."

"But- "

"Harry will live. He'll be fine. They both… they both will be fine."

Dora looked a bit calmer.

"You're right. You're right. You are absolutely, positively right. Harry will live, Teddy will be cared for. No worries."

The new parents exchanged looks of utter sadness and heartbreak.

After a moment, Lily spoke up. It was the first time Remus had heard her voice in sixteen years and it was exactly how he remembered it.

"Who- who's Teddy?" She asked hesitantly. Dora opened her mouth, but Remus beat her to the punch.

"Teddy is Ted Remus Lupin, godson of Harry James Potter, and is, above all, our son."

Sirius broke the silence with, "Poor kid. An orphan, a werewolf, and Metamorphmagus."

Though he was only trying to lighten the mood, Sirius' words caused Dora to break into heart-wrenching sobs as she collapsed against Remus. He was pale and worried, two traits that caused him to glare at Sirius.

"Damn it, Padfoot!" He hissed, holding his sobbing wife. "Teddy's only a baby."

"So was Harry." Sirius hissed back. Hick upping, Dora glared at her cousin.

"For your information, Sirius Orion Black, Harry was fifteen – fifteen? Fifteen months old when he was orphaned. Teddy's three days old. Three days, Sirius! If Harry strains his memory- "

"All Harry remembers is Voldemort killing Lily!" Sirius yelled back at her. Dora immediately fired back with

"You're right, Sirius. That's all he remembers. My son, my baby, my only child will never have any memory of me! He'll only know me, know Remus, know us through stories. Stories, Sirius, stories!"

Sirius opened his mouth, probably going to say something, when Remus interrupted.

"Sirius, Dora, please. Let's just – please – stop yelling. You have no idea how we are feeling, Padfoot. Or even you, Prongs. So, please, just stop yelling."

He sounded aged – Dora realized just how old her husband was.

"Remus." She said softly.

"I'm going- " But Remus never got to finish his sentence, for just then, Fred Weasley had appeared.

"Professor! Tonks! What – when – where – Sirius?"

He looked confused.

Remus groaned. He knew he would have to be the one to tell Fred he was dead.

"Am I dead?"

Remus glanced up, seemingly surprised at hearing this before nodding slowly.

"Oh." Was all Fred had to say. After a moment he asked, "If you two are also dead, what will happen to your baby?"

Dora immediately burst into tears again.

"His grandmother will provide for him."

Remus' voice had gone soft and shaky. Fred nodded once before asking,

"Uh, where ARE we?"

Lily, seeing Remus being unable to explain, decided to answer. James and Sirius would probably jumble it up and Dora probably had no idea.

"When James, Harry, and I – I'm Lily Potter by the way – went into hiding, Remus and I did a spell that was created by us. The purpose of it was that when a prankster – one who managed to make McGonagall laugh – would come here after death, to wait for the others before moving on. It's my darling husband who decided to call it 'Marauder Meeting' and, well, we were just waiting for Remus. Besides the pranksters, it's also for their spouses."

Lily finished her lecture, but Fred had only caught one word.

"Wait – did you just say 'Marauder'?"

Lily nodded, confused.

"Yeah. In school, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter called themselves the Marauders. Why?"

A look of wonder and awe appeared on Fred's face.

"Wait – what – who – you were the Marauders?!"

Sirius looked at him.

"You've heard of us?"

"Heard of you? Heard of you? Forge and I worship you!"

Remus looked amused.

"Don't you mean George?"

The dead twin shook his head, a huge smile on his face.

"When we're being pranksters, I'm Gred and he's Forge."

James nodded, understanding.

"Like we're Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs."

Fred nodded eagerly.

"Wait." Sirius spoke up. "How do you know about the Map?"

"In our first year, we nicked it from Filch's office when he wasn't looking. It was actually thanks to Snape we figured out how to work it."

"Oh? Just how do you work it?" Sirius crossed his arms.

"You tap your wand to it and say, 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good.' When you have no need for it you say 'Mischief Managed.'" Fred explained.

Suddenly Remus laughed.

"It was you, wasn't it? You and George gave the Map to Harry in his third year."

Fred nodded.

Just then, James spoke up.

"As delightful as this all is, I believe Harry's about to summon my fellow Marauders, Lily, and myself. We'll continue this when we've returned."

The four disappeared, off to meet Harry on his supposed journey to death.

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That's all folks. Just a one shot.

Now, on to questions you may have.

Where did talk of the Map come from?

Let's just suppose that Sirius figured (correctly, of course) that the only way the twins could have learned of the Marauders was through the Map.

Is that the end?

Yes. At least, for this story. As we all know they move on to the world of daisies and butterflies and Quidditch where they talk and laugh and are happy happy happy.

Do you own Harry Potter?

Yes. Whistles while slowly moving off camera – a second later is escorted back onscreen by a cop Unfortunately, no.

Q. Were any of these questions serious?

A. Just the first one! The rest were Sirius. Cricket… cricket... cricket… Why is no one laughing? I thought it was funny.


End file.
